Jeremy Lin - Asian American Male Of The Year

It's about that time again where we start anew, but before we do, I want to give an Asian American Male of the Year award to the one and only Jeremy Lin. What Lin accomplished this year alone is truly remarkable. To go from being an NBA player who nobody had really heard of outside of the Asian community before his breakout game against the Nets, to a megastar athlete in a span of a few months calls for a resounding applause.

Far too long have Asian American men had been desperately seeking an Asian male role model to look up to outside the relic of Bruce Lee, though an unadulterated actor, fighter, philosopher and legend by anyones standards, Lin on the other hand has graced the front pages of major newspapers, magazines, mainstream media and entertainment outlets. Most Asian American parents that I knew of growing up didn't encourage their children to go into professional sports. The main focus has always been studying, which isn't a always a bad thing, but Lin achieved more than that. As a Harvard graduate, Lin not only turned the conventional wisdom surrounding Asian American men on its head, that of course being strictly academic, un-athletic and feeble, but also made up for the lost time and painful setback by the American idol reject William Hung.

"A Leading Man" Depicts The Asian Male Actors Struggle In Hollywood

Its no surprise that Asian American actors have struggled to receive acceptance from the mainstream audience in America, let alone obtain leading roles in Hollywood films. And if you compare the hardships that Asian American males have to endure to break into the entertainment industry compared to females, its arguably even harder. As reported by Meniscus Magazine, Steven J. Kung decided to do something about this particular systemic issue by writing and directing the film "A Leading Man", which explores the harsh realities and setbacks when confronted with Hollywood's "quiet racism".

Courtesy of Meniscus Magazine

I don't know much about Steven Kung, but I applaud his gallant efforts in producing a film that challenges the very system that he is a part of and also pays his bills. When asked how he came up with the idea for the script, Steve answered verbatim what many Asian Americans have been contesting all along.

”I originally came to Hollywood because I was sick of seeing Asian men in particular emasculated in front of the camera...No one was making the films that would portray Asian American men in a more well-rounded way. I'm 35 now and this still hasn't come so I'm like, you know, things aren't entirely socially equal, and let's make a film about that.”

Now the lead actor Jack Yang is a good looking guy. He sort of reminds me of the Batman animated version of Bruce Wayne with longer hair. Although that says absolutely nothing about his acting abilities, if he actually has the talent and is getting rejected left and right from Hollywood casting directors consistently then it's obvious that what he's experiencing parallels the "soft bigotry of low expectations" that plagued Jeremy Lin. In other words, he's a benchwarmer, a 3rd string, B-Movie actor. You can see from his portfolio on IMDB Yang's been in a quite a few Hollywood films and TV series, but rarely, if ever, as the leading male character.

Non-English Speaking Chinese Guy Gets The White Girl

Happy Holidays to all of my readers out there!

AbsolutelyFobulous shared this video below featuring cross-cultural love between a Chinese guy, AJ, and his British-Spanish aka white girlfriend Natalie. I've been meaning to share this with all of you frustrated Asian guys out there looking for love (from white girls) in hopes to inspire you.

If AJ, who can barely speak any English, can manage to get with Natalie, a woman who has her own set of Mandarin and cultural obstacles to overcome, there's zero excuse for Asian American guys not being able to get attractive women regardless of their non-Asian background.

I have to give this guy major props because he actually did what a lot of Asian American guys don't do. He initiated. He approached, and I've seen more guys being aggressive with women over in Asian countries than I have here. Now that's inspiring.

RIP To Recent Victims To Gun Violence

Folks, I had to take a break from blogging.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, I had to sit down and reflect upon my life outside of Asian American issues that seem far too petty relative to the recent tragedy where 28 people died. 20 elementary school children, 6 faculty heros, Adam Lanza and his gun toting mother. I'm not going to argue about gun control as I've done more than enough debating for stricter gun laws during the last week. The one thing I will say however is that I don't believe in guns, period.

Thanks for those of you checking in. I have more stories I'd like to share with you soon.

The Next Big Asian Comedian: Zhangster

For some of you who already know of the Zhangster, call me a late arrival to the party but I just stumbled upon his clips on YouTube. He's a Chinese American straight out of the Bay Area, San Francisco to be exact. Hands down he's one of the funniest Asian American male comedians I've seen in a while. His jokes are pretty clever and he's really quick with the comebacks.

Zhangster going off on the UCLA Wallace's racist rant against Asians.